Process of making plaited leather



May 19, 1931, FQBARBER 1,805,478

SS OF MAKING PLAITED LEA e 27, 1929 ZSheets-Sheeb i May 19, 1931. F.BARBER 1,395,473

PROCESS OF MAKING PLAITED LEATHER Filed Feb. 27, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 25g INVENTOR TT'ORNEY Patented May l 9, 1931 rmx nnannn, ocmm 'somimwYonx rsoonss or vituirzrive iLAITE-Ii LEATHER Application filed February27, 1923. Serial No. $2,931. 7

My intention relatesparticularly to a processof plaiting leather so asto produce, plaited leather sheets suitable'for use for any desiredpurpose, but particularly in connection with the manufacture of shoesand'product' thereof. a 1 The object of my invention is to provide aprocess whereby sheets of plaited' leather frame 1 havii'ig a base 2 forsupporting a 7 may be readily producedand 'at a cost within 10 ufactureof leather products, particularlyshoes. A'further object is toprovide-such a process which may be carried outfexpedi: f

tiously and at comparatively littlecost,

' 1 while at the same time. producing a product which is of greatuniformity and of such 1 slot 6 to receive oneend of an operating rod i7 connected'to said treadle by means of a bolt compactness and with its'edges finished-- in such a manner as to securely'holdthe differ entportions of the sheet of plaited leather in a fixed position until it isfinally utilized for the manufacture of the finished product, as, forexample, shoes, etc. Further objects will appear from the detaildescription of my invention hereinafter; v 1

\Vhile my invention is capable of 'einbOdi: ment in many diflerentforms, by way: of illustration I shall describe only certain forms of myinvention hereinafter, and while -itis capable of being carried out inconnection with many dififerenttypesof apparatus, I have shown only onetype pfapparatusrm use in connection therewith in the;-,aecom,-

panying drawings, in which I Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a machineused in accordance with' my nventionshow-i ing diagrammatically thenumber of strip, supporting levers therein P I 2 is a side elevation ofthe same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear elevation of a portion of the operatingmechanism;

n i Fig, 4 isuan enlarged 'detail ofj the leather shown in the processofbeingjplaited i Fig. 5isan, elevation of the transverse sup p w V ofwh chis provided Wltll a lowerhooked end 32 for receiving the free endsare correspondporting bar for the strip s oof leather;

5 r Fig. 6 is an 'enlargedfront elevation show ing one of the armsholdingthe slotted ends of the leather strips; i

7 is a plan view of-the lniifeused in the process;

Fig. 8 is a plan View of oneof leather therange suitable for utilizationin the man "Fig."3,so as topass through openings 19a1 1 d '20 formedbythrough the arms, is-pivotally supported n lbands used for making thevertical strips .2

of leather;

mechanism' whichmay be 'used' in carrying eo outmy process. lThiscomprises a foot treadle 3 .carriedby a pivot rod 4 which passesthroughthe frame lin such a manner that the treadle 3 will bejsupportedin an opening 5 in the middle 'of'the "frame 1 near the bottom thereof.The rear end of said treadle 3 hasa- 'andllwhich arein'turn'fconnectedby a trans verse bolt 12 to thetwo lower ends oflinks13 and 14;, which are normally retained in an upwardfpositionbyspfri'ngs 15 and 16 connected at theirlower-ends to the rod 12 and fattheir'up'per ends to the rear of the frame lby means of eyelets-17 and18. These links 13 and "1e ar'e 'flaj'red outwardly, as shown in uidebars 21 and 22'which are attached by bolts 23' to'the frame 1, spacing"blocks 24 being interposed'between saidframe andothe ends ofthe guidebars 21' and 22. In

frontofthe frame lsaid links 13 andl also ts 5 pass'through 'urshaped'guide brackets 25 and V 26, which are supportedupon a transverseplate 27bolted'to the front face of the frame 1." At theirextreme upperends the links 13 and V14= are pivotallyconnected by two rear links'28and 29,by means of pivot rods 29a and o' 291),", to; a transversesupporting bar 50 carrying thereon thirty-seven arms 31, each pose,These hooked arms 31 are pivotally supported-upon a rod 35 which, afterpassing the two U-shaped brackets where they are held .in place by meansof nuts 36. Also, at the upper ends of the links 13 and 14 there extenddownwardly two front links 37 and 38 which are connected at their lowerends to a transverse pivoted rod 39 carrying thirtyseven right-angularlyshaped arms 40 which alternate in position between the, series of arms31 and are likewise pivotally supported upon the rod 35. Theseright-angle arms 40 are also provided with hooks 41 at their lower endsto receive the other free ends of the leather strap 33, which are alsoprovided with slits 34 for this purpose.

These leather strips 33 are introduced into the machine by passing themover a lower supporting bar 42, said bar 42 having hooked portions 44and 45 at the two ends thereof to receive a branched cord 46, the lowerend of which is connected to a pin 47 just above the opening 5.

The vertical strips 33 are made from a composite band of leather 48 madeup of two short bands 49 and 50 sewn together at their ends by threetransverse rows of stitching 51. is cut into strips longitudinally byany suitable mechanism so as to obtain therefrom the vertical strips 33of the required length and width, the widths of the strips beingentirely uniform throughout.

The vertical stripsof leather 33 are insert ed in this manner into theapparatus in such a way that the adjacent ends of each strand willpresent the same finished face of leather to the front towards theoperator, this being accomplished by, giving the rear end of the:vertical strip 33, which passes over the rear side of the bar 42, a180, turn, as shown in Fig.4, for this purpose. After the longitudinalstrips have thus been placed in the apparatus the treadle 3 is operatedto reverse the position of the ends of the longitudinal strips so astodraw the upper end of the links 13 and 14 downwardly into the dottedline position, as shown in Fig. 2. This has.

the effect of moving the upper ends of the right-angle'arms 40 forwardlyand the upper ends'of the arms 31 rearwardly so that the positions ofthe lower hooked ends of said arms 40 and 31 are reversed, thus throwingthe ends of the longitudinal strips. which were formerly to the front,now to the rear,

while the rear ends thereof now occupy the position previously taken bythe other ends thereof. A knife 52, having tapered slits-53 and 54, isthen inserted in a space 55 between the twolayers of longitudinal stripsand lowered until it'cannot be moved any farther in view of the tautnessof the longitudinal strips 33, which are tightly held down by the bar 42and the cord 46. When the knife 52 has been moved into this position thelongitudinal strips 33 will be preliminarily adjusted so as to see thatall of them present The composite band of leather48 towards the frontthe finished face of the leather. Meantime, a number of transversestrips 56 are formed from a short band of leather 57 so as to producesimultaneously therefrom a number of such strips of uniform width andwhich are equal in width and thickness to the longitudinal strips 33,but of considerably shorterlengths. One end of a transverse strip 56 isthen caught in one of the slits 53, 54, in the knife 52, and said knifemoved transversely from between the two layers of vertical strips 33 sothat said transverse strip 56 occupies the place formerly taken by theknife 52 with one end thereof protruding only a small distance from theside of the outermost vertical strip 33 and the other long end extendingbeyond the other side of the series of vertical strips. Thereupon, thetreadle 3 is released to a ain reverse the position of the longitudinalayers of strips. The knife 52 is again inserted strips, thus bringingthe free end of the transverse stri out to the same side as the otherend of said strip. The treadle 3 is again operated to shift the upperends of the longitudinal I strips into the reverse position, whereuponthe knife 52 is again inserted between the same and a second transversestrip attached so as to bring its finished side face outwardly to thefront, when the knife is withdrawn, but in the opposite direction fromthe withdrawal of the knife in the first insertion operation of thetransverse strip, so that the front end of the second strip protrudesfrom the opposite side from that where the freeend of the first stripinserted was located. After again shifting the upper ends of thelongitudinal strip 33 with the treadle 3, the knife is again insertedand engaged with the free end of the second transverse strip,

after the same 180 turn therein, and said free end drawn through to theside occupied by the other end of said strip. In this way .plaite sheetof leather is obtained in which the position of the parts is retaineddue to the alternating location of the free ends of the transversestrips. Thereupon the cord 46 is disengaged, the bar 42removed and theupper ends of the sheet of plaited leather removed from the machine bylifting the slitted ends off from the hooks 32 and 41. These slittedends are then clipped ofi and abrush with rubber cement brushed overthese free ends so that the rubbergwhich quickly dries thereornholdssecurely the free edge inplace. If desired, the other looped endswhich'have formerly been retained by the bar 42, maybegiven a similartreatment with the {rubber cement, although this is not essentialbecause of the loops which are in'this end of the fabric. Beforeapplying the: rubber cement to this end of the fabric the looped endsmay be cut off, if desired.v Finally, before'the fabric is used in themanufacture of shoes transverse strips respectively, and that, also,

the longitudinal, aslwell as the transverse strips, may be alternated invarious colors, thus obtaining'very desirable color effects in theresulting leathersheet.

lVhile I have described myinvention above in detail I wish it to beunderstood that many changes may be made therein without depart-- ingfrom the spirit of the same. i 'Iclaimlk" 1. The process. whichcomprises producing a plaited sheet of leather by doubling a see ries oflongitudinal stripsof leathe;r, snpporting the doubledends inqa seriesandthe other ends of said strips in two widely separated series with thefree-end portion of the strip, which is adjacentto the nee-end porvionof the next strip,- locatednin a difierent series therefrom, andth'enintroducing transverse strips of leather so that successive transversestrips'are locatedwith'the'loops against alternating edges of the seriesof longitudinal strips between said longitudinal strips by inserting onefree-end of a' transverse strip, re ,vers-ingthe relative positionsofthe two series of ends of the longitudinal strips, and

then inserting the remaining end of said transverse strip betweensaidseries; A 2. The processwhich comprises producing a plaited sheet ofleather by doubling a series of longitudinal strips of leather,supporting the doubled ends :in' a series and the other ends of saidstripsin two widely separated series with the freesend portion of thestrip Wl1lCl11lS' adjacent to the free-end 7 portion of the next striplocated in a dif ferent series therefrom and th-en'introducingtransverse strips of leather so that successive transverse strips arelocated. withthe p againstalternating edges of the; series oflongitudinal stripsbetween said longitudinal strips by insertingonefree-end of a transverse strip, reversing the relative posi-' v; 4. Theprocess which'cornprl 'tions of the two series of ends ofthelongitudinal strips, and then inserting the remaining endiof saidtransverse strip between said-series, this being accomplished byengaging and drawingthe free ends "of said transversestripsthrough theseries of free-ends of the .longitudinalstrips as; they are shifted fromone position to the other.

3. The process which comprises producing a plaited sheet ofleather bydoubling-a series of longitudinal strips of leather, supporting thedoubled ends in a series andthe other ends of said strips two widelyseparatediseries with the freer-end portion of the strip which isadjacent to the freeend portion of the next strip located ina differentseries therefrom, said two series offree-ends being located so Y as topresent to the front the same face of l each leather strip and thenintroducing transverse strips of 1 leather so that successivetransversestrips are located with the loops against alternating edges ofthe series of longitudinal strips between said longitudinal, stripsbyinserting one free-end'of a transverse strip,reversing the relativepositions of r the two series of ends of the longitudinal strips, andthen inserting the remaining end of said transverse strip between-said.series with the same face onboth ends of the transversestrippresented tothe front. o 'ses producing a plaited sheet *of'leathe'r by doubling aseother ends of saidstrips in twowidely separated series with thefree-end portion of the strip, which is adjacent to the free-endportroducing transverse strips of leather so that a successivetransverse strips'are located wlth the loops against alternatingedges ofthe se-' ries of longitudinalstrips between said longitudinal strips byinserting one free-end of a transverse strip, reversing the relativepositions of the two series of ends of the longitudinal strips,and theninserting the remaining end'of said transverse strip between saidserieswiththe same face on both ends of the ries ofllongitudinal stripsof leather, supporting,thes-doubled ends in aseries and the LCD 'itionof the nextstrip located in a different se-. ries therefrom, said twoseries of free-ends being located so as to present to the front the sameface of each leather'strip, and-then intransverseistrip presented tot-hefront,- this f being accomplished byengagin and drawing the free-ends ofsaidtransversestrips through Y Y the series offree-ends of thelongitudinal strips as theyfare shifted, from one position to the other.r

fil The process which comprises producing a plaited sheet of leather bydoublinga seriesof longitudinalgstrips' of leather, supporting thedoubled ends in a series'and the other ends of said strips in twowidelyseparated series I with the freeeend portionzof the strip, which isadjacent tothe free-end portion of thenext strip,'located in adifferent. series therefrom,

and then introducing transverse strips of leather so that successivetransverse strips are located with the loops against alternating edgesof the series of longitudinal strips between saic longitudinal strips byinserting one free-end of a transverse strip, reversing the relativepositions of the two series of ends of the longitudinal strips, and theninserting the remaining end of said transverse strip between saidseries, and then securing together the ends of the longitudinal strips.

6. The process which comprises producing a plaited sheet of leather bydoubling a series of longitudinal strips of leather, supporting thedoubled ends in a series and the other ends of said strips in two widelyseparated series with the free-end portion of the strip which isadjacent to the free-end portion of the next strip located in adifferent series therefrom and then introducing transverse strips ofleather so that successive transverse strips are located with the loopsagainst alternating edges of the series of longitudinal strips betweensaid longitudinal strips by inserting one free-end of a transversestrip, reversing the relative positions of the two series of ends of thelongitudinal strips and then inserting the remaining end of saidtransverse strip between said series, this being accomplished byengaging and drawing the free ends of said transverse strips through theseries of freeends of the longitudinal strips as they are shifted fromone position to the other, and then securing together the ends of thelongitudinal strips.

7. The processwhich comprises producing a plaited sheet of leather bydoubling a series of longitudinal strips of leather, supporting thedoubled ends in a series and the other eudsof said'strips in two widelyseparated series with the free-end portion of the strip which adjacenttothe free-end portion of the next strip located in a different seriestherefrom, said two series of free-ends being located so as to presentto the front the same face of each leather strip and then introducingtransverse strips of leather so that successive transverse strips arelocated with the loops against alternating edges of the series oflongitudinal strips between said longitudinal strips by inserting onefree-en d of a transverse strip, reversing the relative positions of thetwo series of ends of the longitudinal strips, and then inserting theremaining end of said transverse strip between said series with the sameface on both ends of the transverse strip presented to the front andthen securing together the ends of the longitudinal strips.

8. The process which comprises producing a plaited sheet of leather bydoubling a series of longitudinal strips of ieather, supporting thedoubled ends in a series and the other ends of said strips in two widelyseparated series with the free-end portion of the 5 mp winch is adjacentto the free-end portion of the next strip located in a different seriestherefrom, said two series of free-ends being located so as to presentto the front the same face of each leather strip, and then introducingtransverse strips of leather so that successive transverse strips arelocated with the loops against alternating edges of the series oflongitudinal strips between said longitudinal strips by inserting onefree-end of a transverse strip, reversing the relative positions of thetwo series of ends of the longitudinal strips, and then inserting theremaining end of said transverse strip between said series with the sameface on both ends of the transverse strip presented to the front, thisbeing accomplished by engaging and drawing the freeends of saidtransverse strips through the series of free-ends of the longitudinalstrips as they are shifted from one position to the other, and thensecuring together the ends of the longitudinal strips.

9. The process which comprises producing a plaited sheet of leather bydoubling a series of longitudinal strips ofleather, supporting thedoubled ends in a series and the other ends of said strips in two widelyseparated series with the free-end portion of the strip, which isadjacent to the free-end portion of the next strip, located in adifferent series therefrom, and then introducing transverse strips ofleather so that successive transverse strips are located with the loopsagainst alternatingedges of the series of longitudinal strips betweensaid longitudinal strips by inserting one free-end of a transversestrip, reversing the relative positions of the two series of ends of thelongitudinal strips, and then inserting the remaining end of saidtransverse strip between said series, and then securing together theends of the longitudinal strips with rubber cement.

10. The process which comprises producing a plaited sheet of leather bydoubling a series of longitudinal strips of leather, sup porting thedoubled. ends in a series and the other endsof said strips in two widelyseparated series with the free-end portion of the strip which isadjacent to the free-end portion of the next strip located in adifferent series therefrom and then introducing transverse strips ofleather so that successive transverse strips are located with the loopsagainst alternating edges of the series of longitudinal strips betweensaid longitudinal strips by inserting one free-end of a transversestrip, reversing the relative positions of the two series of ends of thelongitudinal strips and then inserting the remaining end of saidtransverse strip between said series, this being accomplished byengaging and drawing the free ends of said transverse strips through theseries of free-ends of the longitudinal strips as they are shifted fromone position to the other, and then securing together the ends of thelongitudinal strips with rubber cement.

11. The process, which comprises produc-,

ing a plaited sheet of leather by doubling a series. of longitudinalstrips of leather, sup porting the doubled ends in a series-and the 7other ends of said strips in twowidely sepa-,

rated series with the free-end portion of the strip which-is adjacent tothe free-endportion of the next strip located ina different seriestherefrom, said two series o'ffree-ends being located so as to presentto the front 7 the same face of each leatherstrip and then introducingtransverse strips of leather so that successive transverse strips arelocated with the loops against alternating edges of the series oflongitudinal strips between said longitudinal strips by inserting onefree-end of a transverse strip, reversing the relative positions ofthetwo series of ends of the longitudinal strips, and then inserting" theremaining end of said transverse strip between said series with the samefaceon bothends of the.transversestrip presented to the front and thensecuring together the ends of'the longitudinal strips with rubbercement.

12. The process which comprises producing a plaited sheet of leather bydoubling a series of longitudinal strips or leather, sup-f porting thedoubled ends in a'series and the other ends of said strips in two'widelysepm rated series with the free-end'portion of the strip which isadjacent to the free-end1p0re tion of the next strip located in adifierent series therefrom, said two serieso'f free-ends being locatedso as to present to the front the same face of each leather strip,andthen} introducing transverse strips of leatheriso" that successivetransverse strips are 1 located with the loops against alternatingledges of the series of longitudinal strips between'jsaid longitudinalstrips by inserting one free-end of a transverse strip, reversing therelative positions of the two series of ends of the longitudinal strips,and then inserting the re:

inaining end of said transverse strip between said series with the sameface on both ends of the transverse strip presented to the front, thisbeing accomplished "by" engaging and drawing the free-ends of saidtransverse strips through the series of free-ends of the longitudinalstrips as they are shifted from one position to the other, and thensecuring together the ends of the ,longitudinalrstrips' with rubbercement.

13. A sheet of plaited' leather comprising A i a series of parallelstrips runningin one di- I rection and a series of interwoven flatleather str ps running cross-wlse of the first-mentionedstrips, thelast-mentioned strips be ing located with a doubled end atone side,

so doubled as to locate the same face of the flat strip throughoutoatthe, same side'of the and thetwo: ends of the doubled strip adjacent, toeach other.

14. A sheet of plaltedleather comprising being direction .mr a series ofinterwoven flat leather strips running cross-Wise of the first mentionedstrips, thellast-mentioned strips" being located so that the two halvesthereof are interwoven, adjacent to each other in the sheet of leatherwith a doubled endat oneside, so doubled as to locate the same face ofthe flat strip throughout at the same side of the sheet of leather, andfree endsat the other side of, said sheet of leather,'with the adjacentstrips having their doubled ends against opposite sides of said sheet ofleather. V

15. A sheet of'plaited leather comprising a series of parallel stripsrunning in one direction, a series'of interwoven fiat leather stripsrunningv cross-wise of the first-mom tionedj strips, the last-mentionedstripsbeing located-with a doubled end at one side,

so doubled as to locate the same face of the flat strip throughout atthe same side of the opposite sides of said sheet of leather and the twoends of the doubled strip being adjacent to each other, and an adhesivelayer applied'to' the free ends of a series of strips;

16. A sheetof plaited leather comprising a series ofparallel stripsrunning in one direction, ,a series "of interwoven fiat leather sheet ofleather, and free ends at the other side of said sheet of leather, withthe adjacent strips having their doubled ends against strips runningcrosswise of the first-mentioned strips, the last-mentioned stripsbeinglocated so that the two halves thereof are interwoven adjacentlyto, each other in the sheet of leather with a doubled end at one side,so doubled 'as'to locate the same face of'the fiat strip throughout atthe same side ofthe' sheet of leather, and free ends at the-otherside ofsaid sheet of leather, with the adjacent strips. having their doubledends against opposite sides of said sheet of leather, andanadhesivelayer appliedto the free ends of a series ofstrips. I

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set rny handthis 6th day of FRANK BARBER;

sheet of leather, and freeends at the other side of said sheet ofleather, with the ad-'

